Cedarville University Theatre - 2006-2007 Season
Main Stage Productions
Our 2006-2007 season will showcase a wonderful variety of theatrical styles. We begin in the fall with Agatha Christie's classic mystery, The Mousetrap. The winter production of the Tony Award-winning new musical, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, that opened on Broadway in 1999 will provide you with the opportunity to return to Charles Schultz's innocent yet profound world of childhood. The season concludes with Tennessee Williams' haunting American classic drama, The Glass Menagerie. We invite you to join us for each of these moving and thought-provoking productions.
The Glass Menagerie
by Tennessee Williams
Directed by Matthew M. Moore
Performance Dates: March 29-31, April 12-14, 2007
Tom, who is both a narrator and a character in Tennessee Williams' masterwork, recalls his family's struggle to escape the realities of life in 1939 St. Louis. Amanda, his mother, is trying to provide for the future in difficult times, but the responsibility of being the breadwinner has fallen to Tom. His frail sister, Laura, has shielded herself from society's expectations with a homebound life where she finds comfort caring for her collection of little glass animals. Inevitably, Tom becomes desperate to escape his circumstances and follow his dreams just as a "gentleman caller" arrives for Laura - a caller who could be either a sign of hope or a disturbance that will shatter their fragile home.
This haunting American classic speaks as profoundly to our 21st century way of life as it did when it premiered in 1945. Its timeless themes of enduring family crises, escaping reality, and dreaming of a better future resonate powerfully in our turbulent times and make it an excellent reminder of how to fully embrace the reality of our lives.
Main Stage Productions - Archive
The Mousetrap
by Agatha Christie
Directed by Robert L. Clements
Performance Dates: October 5-7, 12-14, 2006
Agatha Christie's classic story, The Mousetrap, opened in 1952 at the Ambassadors Theatre in London, England and is still playing in theatres around the world nightly. The longest running play or musical in history, it is Agatha Christie at her best.
The setting is the 1940s in post World War II England. A young married couple has inherited a large manor house in the English countryside, which they have decided to open as a guest house. On their first day of business their curious and interesting guests arrive along with a massive winter storm confining everyone to the house. The roads are blocked and the phone does not work. A detective arrives on skis to announce that the address of the house was found on the body of a woman murdered in London. The police are concerned that someone staying in the house might be the next victim. Suspicion grows as the detective attempts to unmask everyone present. When one of the guests is murdered, everyone becomes a suspect. Who will be killed next? The tension and suspicions build to an amazing and surprising climax. The Mousetrap will keep you on the edge of your seat.
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
by Clark Gesner
Directed by Rebecca M. Baker
Performance Dates: Februray 1, 3, 8-10, 2007
The original version of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown was based on the comic strip, "Peanuts," by Charles M. Schulz. Book, music and lyrics were written by Clark Gesner. First produced in 1967, the musical became an instant off-Broadway smash and ran 1,547 performances. Since then, it has become one of the most produced musicals in history. We will be performing the revised version, billed as a "new musical entertainment," which opened on Broadway in 1999. In his Feb. 14, 1999, review of the show for the New York Times, Vincent Canby states, "Among other things, you will discover a blissfully sunny alternate universe to the one of broken marriages, career compromises, alcoholism, mental breakdowns (plus the occasional redemption) that became so familiar in American literature of the postwar years."
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown tells the story of an average day in the life of the famous comic strip hero, Charlie Brown. The vignettes reflect moments picked from Valentine's Day to baseball season, ranging emotionally from wild optimism to utter despair. Charlie's kite won't do what he wants it to, he makes the final "out" in the baseball game he could have won, he doesn't have the nerve to talk to that little red-haired girl, and he thinks that few kids like him - but by the show's end, Lucy comes up to him and asserts, "You're a good man, Charlie Brown."
Student Productions
NeXtage Production
The student production company NeXtage, sponsored by Alpha Psi Omega (the Cedarville University chapter of the national honorary dramatic organization), will present a student-directed production on November 16-18, 2006. The goals and mission of NeXtage are to focus attention on social issues, promote discussion of controversial ideas, and broaden audience perspective through performance. The production will take place at 8 p.m. each evening on the Alford Auditorium stage. The 2006 NeXtage production will be Over the River and Through the Woods by Joe DiPietro.